Videotapes

MPI Home Video of Chicago plans to release a videotape of excerpts of Lt. Col. Oliver L. North's testimony before the congressional committees investigating the Iran- contra affair, the company announced Monday. The 90-minute videotape, titled "Oliver North: Memo to History," will also include excerpts of testimony by other witnesses and background material about key figures and events, the company said.

Nearly 100 New Yorkers have eagerly sent $9.95 each to American Isuzu over the last few weeks. They weren't buying specialized windshield wiper blades--or Joe Isuzu-autographed litter bags. They were paying for advertisements. Specifically, they shelled out nearly 10 bucks each for detailed, videotaped advertisements about Isuzu's upscale car, Impulse. And similarly, about 300 people have sent $12 each to the Irish Tourist Board for a lengthy video ad on Ireland.

After the Bruins' disastrous Arizona trip last week, Coach Steve Lavin, who regularly edits tapes to show his team both good plays and bad ones, put together one featuring what he believes is the team's Achilles' heel--turnovers. The tape, 10 minutes from the Arizona game, was the first Lavin ever put together consisting solely of turnovers. "We're creating easy baskets in transition for our opponents," Lavin said. "Our offense creates offense for our opponents.

A Moorpark man was arrested after two housemates learned he was videotaping them in their common bathroom, authorities said. Two Moorpark College foreign exchange students from Japan--a 23-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman--discovered that a decorative mask hanging in the bathroom of their rented four-bedroom house on Marymount Street contained a pinhole-sized hidden camera, allegedly placed there by one of two other tenants, authorities said.

A security videotape showing a man apparently kidnapping a woman in front of a large Hollywood apartment complex was released by police Thursday as investigators tried to determine whether a crime had been committed. No one has reported an abduction or any other incident in the area involving people matching the man and woman on the tape, and the two remain unidentified, Los Angeles police said.

Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, held hostage by rebels for 19 months, urged the government to rescue her in a videotape broadcast. The video was the first sign that Betancourt might still be alive since rebels released a different tape in July 2002. There was no way of confirming when the latest tape was made.

It's another prime-time TV season. Despite all the new programming, you may find yourself running out of things to watch-so why not create the perfect TV nostalgia schedule? A cornucopia of programs many thought had vanished are now available on home viddo. Here's a suggested schedule, based roughly on when the shows originally aired. SUNDAY 7:30-8 p.m., "The Jack Benny Show" Benny, a radio superstar since 1932, moved easily into TV and his CBS programs are still hilarious.

This scene is played out hundreds of times every day in Hollywood. A couple of hopeful producers and a writer sit down on overstuffed furniture in a production executive's office, shmooze a bit about the horrors of Los Angeles freeway traffic, then--having moistened their tonsils on sips of designer water--launch into a pitch for a movie. "Well, we're here today to talk to you about a project we're very excited about. It's called. . . ."

Is this the way it's going to be in the post-Rodney G. King era--endless home videos of acrimonious police arrests showing up in newscasts regardless of their news value? Will camcorders usurp the role of police review boards? If so, the trend is off to a roaring start.

Dropping a child off at school these days can feel a lot like a round of bumper cars, but with real-life dangers. Morning after morning, the scene outside many schools across the San Fernando Valley is the same: Double-parked cars clog the street as harried parents dash through traffic to dump the kids safely in class and still make it to work on time.